at
he was worth. What a head--like a bandit!

"And so common," said the ex-valet.

"No principles."

"An absolute want of form. Well, there he is on his beam-ends, and then
Jenkins, too, and plenty of others with them."

"What! the doctor too? Ah! so much the worse. Such a polite and amiable
man."

"Yes, still another breaking-up of his establishment. Horses, carriages,
furniture. The yard of the house is full of bills, and it sounds as
empty as if some one were dead. The place at Nanterre is on sale. There
were half a dozen of the 'little Bethlehems' left whom they packed up in
a cab. It is a break-up, I tell you, _pere_ Passajon, a ruin which
we, old as we are, may not see the end of, but it will be complete.
Everything is rotten, it must all come down!"

He was a sinister figure, this old steward of the Empire, thin, stubbly,
covered with mud, and shouting like a Jeremiah, "It is the downfall!"
with a toothless mouth, black and wide open. I felt afraid and ashamed
of him, with a great desire to see him outside, and I thought: "Oh, M.
Chalmette! Oh, my little vineyard of Montbars!"

_Same date_.--Great news. Mme. Gaganetti came this afternoon to bring me
mysteriously a letter from the governor. He is in London, going to begin
a magnificent thing. Fine offices in the best part of the town, a superb
list of shareholders. He offers me the chance of joining him, "happy to
repair thus the damage he has caused me," says he. I shall have twice my
wages at the Territorial, be lodged comfortably, five shares in the new
bank, and all my arrears paid. All I need is a little money to go
there and to pay a few small debts round here. Good luck! My fortune
is assured. I shall write to the notary of Montbars to mortgage my
vineyard.

AT BORDIGHERA

As M. Joyeuse had told the Juge d'Instruction, Paul de Gery returned
from Tunis after three weeks' absence. Three interminable weeks spent
in struggling among intrigues, and traps secretly laid by the powerful
hatred of the Hemerlingues--in wandering from hall to hall, from
ministry to ministry through the immense palace of the Bardo, which
gathered within one enclosure, bristling with culverins, all the
departments of the State, as much under the master's eye as his stables
and harem. On his arrival, Paul had learned that the Chamber of Justice
was preparing secretly Jansoulet's trial--a derisive trial, lost
beforehand; and the closed offices of the Nabob on the Marin